A number of European intelligence agencies have reportedly warned the Turkish government of a possible assassination attempt against the country’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, during an official state visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina. On Sunday the Turkish leader embarked on a week-long visit to the Balkans, beginning with Bosnia, which along with Albania is seen as Turkey’s strongest political ally in Europe. During his visit to Bosnia, Mr. Erdoğan is scheduled to meet with Bakir Izetbegovic, one of the country’s three presidents. He is also scheduled to address a rally of expatriate Turks in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, held in support of his ruling Justice and Development Party.

On Saturday night, Turkey’s state-owned TRT broadcaster reported that the Turkish president’s delegation had been warned about a possible assassination attempt against him. According to TRT, the information came initially from the intelligence services of the Republic of Macedonia, another state of the former Yugoslavia, which, like Bosnia, has a large Muslim population. Turkish intelligence were reportedly warned that a group of militant opponents of Mr. Erdoğan living in the Balkans were planning to kill him, said the report. It was allegedly followed by similar warnings issued by unnamed “Western intelligence agencies”. TRT did not provide further details about the alleged plot, but said that an “in-depth investigation” was underway by Turkish intelligence.

The Turkish president is facing one of the most direct challenges of his political career in less than two weeks, when Turks will go to the polls to elect a new parliament and —potentially— a new president. Some political commentators believe that, come June 2, Mr. Erdoğan may be removed from power after 15 years in the country’s leadership. But members of his government appeared unphased. One of them, Deputy Prime Minister Bakir Bozdag, tweeted on Saturday that warnings about Mr. Erdoğan’s life were “not new, and have always been there. Our President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is not a person who will be afraid of the threats and change his policy”, wrote Mr. Bozdag. And he continued: “Those, who have not understood that yet, are fools”.